Navy vessel reaches Aden to rescue Pakistanis trapped in Yemen

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistan Navy vessel has reached the port city of Aden to rescue Pakistani citizens stranded in war-torn Yemen, naval officers told a meeting of a Parliamentary committee on Tuesday.

A second frigate will depart from Pakistan later today, said the Pakistan Navy officers as they briefed members of the NA’s Standing Committee on Defence.

Fierce bombardment continued overnight as Saudi-led air strikes hammered Houthi rebel targets in Yemen, with Pakistan’s foreign office saying that 20 Pakistani citizens had reached the city today to be evacuated from the county.

Approximately 500 Pakistanis are said to be trapped in Aden, out of a total of approximately 3,000 residing in different parts of Yemen.

A representative of Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said earlier that around 150 Pakistanis are expected to reach Aden today to be brought back to Pakistan, with permission and necessary documents already arranged from Yemeni authorities.

Pakistan evacuated its first batch of over 500 citizens by airplane on Sunday and sent a naval frigate to the Gulf of Aden to rescue others still trapped in the country.

The developments came as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif chaired a high-level meeting today in Islamabad, where he ordered officials to expedite the evacuation process of the remaining Pakistanis trapped in the country.

Sharif has been personally monitoring the evacuation and has directed officials to ensure the safe return of every citizen, said a spokesman for the prime minister’s office earlier this week.

A delegation of Pakistani officials, led by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and PM's Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, left for Riyadh earlier today to discuss the developing situation in Yemen.

Pakistan is a longstanding ally of Saudi Arabia with close military ties, but Islamabad has not yet committed to the operation, which has drawn strong criticism from its neighbour Iran.

Yemen plunged into chaos by a Houthi rebellion that triggered air strikes backed by neighbouring Saudi Arabia on the capital Sanaa.

The Saudi-led air strikes have hit the main international airport in Sanaa and a renegade troop base, as Arab leaders vow to pummel the rebels until they surrender.